My boys have two weeks of school left, so we are counting down the days to summer vacation, but as a mom, I’m also counting down the number of summers I have left with them; nine with my youngest, and only seven with my oldest. Only nine more summers, and the beautiful days of childhood are gone forever.
When you’re caught up in the craziness that is having young children, you think you’ll never dig your way out of diapers, bottles, and onesies. You feel like the sleepless nights will drag on until the end of days and you’ll have a baby on your hip forever, and then one day you find yourself sitting at the table beside a kid with hairy legs and a grown-up voice and you think “when did this happen?” Your baby doesn’t look like a baby anymore, and it hits you hard and fast that time is ticking and your summers are running out.
Now, I’m not trying to make you cry. There are plenty of awesome things about having older kids. They sleep all night, for one, and you have to drag them out of bed instead and praying they sleep in past 5 am. They have real conversations with you, and it’s awesome to watch them grow into men and women and see that all that time and work you put in paid off. It’s nice to see that they really are going to be okay.
.
But still. Only nine more summers. It really makes me realize that they’re not mine to keep, you know? They’re just stopping by here for me to fill them up with as much wisdom and confidence and love as I can, and then they’re off to live their lives. So, here’s what I’m going to do to maximize these last few summers with my kids.
1. I’m spending less on material junk and more on experiences. I’m frankly ashamed at the amount of money my family has spent on toys, games, and gadgets, and for what? They get tossed aside for the next cool thing, and it all gets tossed in the donate bin eventually. It seems like such a waste, but memories last much longer, hopefully for a lifetime. So we are going to get out there and hike the forests, visit waterfalls, spend some nights on the beach, ride the biggest rides, and see marvelous shows together as a family.
2. I’m prioritizing family time. It’s tough to keep up a regular routine of quality family togetherness during the school year. It seems like, by the time we get through homework and backpack checking and swimming lessons or whatever extracurricular they’ve chosen, there’s not much time for anything else. But summer, sweet summer! Bring on Dungeons and Dragons and Boss Monster. Let’s stay up crazy late and watch The Hobbit movies. Grab your sleeping bag and let’s watch the stars on the trampoline and talk for a couple of hours. Let’s hygge!
3. I’m unplugging. Tumbleweeds will drift slowly by on my Twitter and Instagram accounts. The iPads will be strictly limited. Facebook can wait. Summer is a time for connecting with each other, with nature, and with ourselves. I’ll be logging off and heading outside, and my kids will be leaving their devices at the charging station so that we can ride scooters and dance in the rain. After all, how many more warm rain showers will we have to dance in?
How many summers do you have left?